White Coat Ceremony

The last few days have been pretty busy. Friday was Kurt's White Coat ceremony. I didn't realize it was such a big deal, but it was like a graduation ceremony before school started instead of after it ended. Kurt got his white coat, so he looks like a doctor now. His teachers admonished the class to not wear their white coat to any bars, but I don't think that's going to be a problem. There was a luncheon after the ceremony and Naomi was quite the hit. There are advantages to being the cutest kid in the class.

Also this week, we got a piano. Someone was giving away their piano for free on Craig's list, and it's actually in pretty decent shape, so I jumped at the chance. We ended up paying for someone to move it to our house, but all things considered, I think we got a good deal. It just barely fits in our living room without having the couch in the middle of the room. It was exciting to walk down the stairs in the morning and have a piano in our living room.

Naomi walking

I am posting this video by popular request. This is a video from the first day Naomi was walking, which is over a month ago now, but better late than never. I tried to add it retroactively to my July 8th post, but that is apparently not possible. Now Naomi walks more than she crawls and she is getting pretty good.

So pretty!

After a neighbor girl got Naomi's hair in a little "ponytail" I decided to try my hand at it. Trying to get a 10 1/2 month old to cooperate with her hair was a lot harder than I thought. I had to distract her by giving her food and telling her she was "so pretty".

I started with pigtails, which ended up looking more like antlers (if you saw a face-on view you could see that better). I then tried a single "tail" which looked more like a fountain. Oh, well. Naomi is cute all the same. I'm sure I'll get better. I hope so, anyway, because I'm sick of people asking if she is a boy, even when she is wearing pink.

Stony Brook State Park

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Last week, Kurt and I met up with Kurt's "big sib" who is a second year med student assigned to Kurt to help him get to know the area. We went to Stony Brook State Park, which is a little under an hour from Rochester.

As you can see, it is a beautiful area. The nature trail we hiked had so many waterfalls. Naomi was so anxious to get in the water, I didn't have time to go back and get her swimming suit. In the picture where she's holding the rock, nothing made her happier. I tried to take it away, but she insisted on holding on to the largest, pointiest rock she could find.

Kurt's big sib is named Brad and he's married and from BYU like us. We were bummed to find out that we're in separate wards, but we hope we can spend more time with them anyway.

A Day at the Beach

Before "Nana" Mildenstein left, we all went to Lake Ontario to check out the beach. It was a little overcast, but the lake and park were beautiful.

Naomi was very excited to see the sand and all that water. It was cute to watch as Nana helped Naomi walk by the edge of the lake. I think if we had let her, Naomi would have jumped into the water in a heartbeat. In the picture with Nana and Naomi, they are exchanging "ooohs," which is one of Naomi's favorite things to do lately.

Rochester!

We're starting to get settled here in Rochester. Most of our boxes are unpacked. Our painting and projects are almost done. It's feeling more like home.

Kurt started orientation for medical school today. The school provided dinner for the students and their significant others. Of the 104 students in the class of 2012, maybe 5 are married. And I only saw one other child there. We are the minority, but we like where we are right now.

This living room shot shows what we had intended for the living room. The shelf that Paula is holding up has been a pain, though, and we have yet to get it up on the wall. The bathroom shot is to give an idea of the wall color and theme going on. I know, we still have the blue tape in the picture. That's down now and we have a over-toilet cabinet on that wall.

Naomi Walks!

Naomi took her first intentional steps today. Grandpa Mildenstein held out his arms, and she took three big steps. Since then, she's walked to Daddy and Mommy, as well as Grandma Mildenstein and aunt Emily. She's such a big girl already!